And why the hell not?!? It’s my web site, after all!
So, to answer the question that nearly everyone who knew me in high school eventually asks: yes, I still do some photography. Though not as much as I used to, and frankly, not with the same passion I once did.
Instead, I have other hobbies these days — none as all-consuming as photography once was, but then again, having a family will change those priorities.
Mostly, what I do is fish:
I spend as many days as possible “borrowing” my brother Bill’s 17 foot Hyde drift boat, and floating down the Yakima Canyon between Ellensburg and Selah. Most years, I manage to get in 40 or so trips, or about once a week between February and November (I fish less often in the winter, but still head up there). And I enjoy writing about fly fishing.
So much so, I’ve earned a nick name: “The King of Milepost 19.” Go ahead — Google it. You’ll see!
When I am not fishing, or writing about fishing, or tying flies, or talking about fishing with my co-workers, I am usually either at work, or at home, working in the garden. I work at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, a large research lab back near the Hanford site in eastern Washington. I’ve worked on lots of stuff there — I originally started here in the mid-80’s working on renewable biofuels and coal conversion technology, but have spent much of the time since then developing software that helps people make better environmental decisions (I am especially interested in applying these ideas to the design of new products and processes).
These days, most of my work revolves around the so-called “Semantic Web” but since much of that work is done for the Department of Homeland Security, I don’t get to publish very much of it. Still, it’s interesting work, and more than enough to keep me busy for the next 10-15 years until I retire.
I’m also coming to terms with being a near-empty nester: my oldest son, Ryan, has just recently moved to the University of Washington as a junior transfer student, majoring in International Studies/China Studies; my youngest son, Sean, is heading east in September to attend Thomas More College, a very small Catholic school (100 students), where he will be one of about 10 students who aren’t Catholic (he says he’s leaning towards Hindu). He plans to get a degree in English Lit or Political Science, and then maybe law school.
Not an engineer among the bunch!
My wife, Laura (a 1977 graduate of Everett High School), and I will celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary this year — we’ve been together nearly 30 years! — but it looks like we’ll be doing it by ourselves, which is both exciting and sad. Whatever it is, it will be an adventure.
SB
Sorry I won’t be able to attend our 30th reunion, surprisingly I wasn’t aware of the reunion until Janet Carlson called my two days ago. I’ve been living in Kennewick, since 1982. I continue to work in the tech industry; I’m currently working for Lockheed Martin and manage a helpdesk supporting the Veteran’s Heath Administration in Washington DC. I have been married for 19 years, Bill and I have a wonderful daughter Kayln that attends Southridge High School, she will be a senior this coming year and is considering a degree in medicine. Kayln plays soccer, basketball and track for her school and also for league, so we are always attending some sporting event.
My family is still in the Seattle area and Camano Island, so I do get “home” every so often. I hope you all enjoy the reunion and hope to see you at the next one
Kim — as we realized at the last reunion, we’re practically neighbors!
You and I just spoke on the phone, but I think this bears repeating publicly: I realize some people are finding out very late about the reunion. We’re sort of working from a disadvantaged position — no class list, no official charter, (and in my case, no organizational skills…).
Just Google, Classmates.com, and the good will/cooperation of the rest of the class that we’ve been able to contact. Wish we could have contacted everyone — we certainly contacted everyone we knew how to.
Sorry you won’t be able to make it — we’ll be sure to post pictures on this web site, following the reunion.
Scott
Scott;
I’ve slowly begun picking up the camera once again myself. I really burned myself out with photography after high school by working at the Everett Herald, The Seattle Times, UPI and AP as a photo journalist – what a dog-eat-dog business that is! I won several awards and have been published numerous times in trade magazines and newspapers, but the lure and sparkle of the job faded.
Not sure but I think I actually gagged when I picked up a camera again a couple years ago.
Kevin –
digital has really changed things. It is a great medium to work in, and it affords instant gratification and low cost, once you get past the whole buying a camera thing.
in my case, I enjoyed the work — didn’t win any awards, but had a steady income, some variety, and interesting experiences I couldn’t have had any other way — but the passion for it just slipped away.
Who knows? They say suffering is at the root of all great art — and it may be no small coincidence that I stopped being serious about photography shortly after I met my wife.
Which causes one some concern now that I’m picking up the camera again but I chalk it up to having teenagers.
SB